True Freedom and Liberty

(1) What is freedom and liberty? How does the term “rights” fit in to the definition?

(2) Are we (as Americans, as people of earth, as human beings, etc. in any context) truly free?

(3) From whence does freedom and liberty come from? Self? Government? God? Who grants this? Who is to say we are to aspire to be free?

(4) If we think we are free… are we really?

(5) Is there such a thing as “too much freedom” for individuals and groups? If there is, where is the line drawn on liberty and who is to be the one who draws it?

So, on pondering these thoughts, particularly the 5th bullet, I have come up with some points of interest. Granted they are generalizations, and perhaps flawed, but might they be true…?

MENTAL FREEDOM

It seems to me that humanity in general is very open to suggestion and persuasion by others. Peers, authority figures, the media, and even our own innate selfishness seem to weigh in on how free our minds are to view the world around us. Anyone who has looked into Neuro-Linguistic Programming and the arts of persuasion and suggestion, will know just how easy it can be for someone to shape the way others view things and what they believe. These techniques are used everywhere. Marketing and businesses use these proven techniques to earn monetary profit. The news media uses these techniques to shape how we view current events. The military uses psychological techniques to aid in recruitment. Everyone, to a small extent, even each of the rest of us has tricks in our bags that we try to use – we hope successfully – at times to get people to believe what we want them to believe and do what we want them to do. A simple performer like Derren Brown, excellent though he is, can show how easily moldable we all can be in the wrong hands.

Did you know in 1983, many were alarmed that only 50 major corporation heads controlled what information was reported on and appointed editors, etc. to control how we perceive current events. In 2000 there were only 10 corporation giants, and today, with all the mergers, buy-outs and the like, there are just 4! That means that many of the so-called “liberal media” and the so-called “conservative media” are actually run by the same people. What if American society is being subliminally trained to be in this left-right paradigm to ignore other vitally important issues?

The question is: if the people on whom these techniques are being used, have no idea they are being told how to think… are they MENTALLY FREE? Freedom of thought?

DO WE OWN ANYTHING?

Think about it for a second: do you own anything? What does it mean to own something? Do you own your own home? Wait… many may say “yes” but then, ask yourself – do you have a mortgage still? If you do, then the bank actually owns you home and land, not you. You’ve paid your mortgage off, have you? Let’s see if now you own your home:

What happens if, even though you have no mortgage – paid in full and all – you still don’t pay your property taxes? Your home will be confiscated. So does that, or does that not, beg the question: if you supposedly own your own home, why do you have to pay someone else to keep it? Sounds to me like rent… or theft.

John Locke, the political philosopher who arguably had one of the biggest influences on the Founding Fathers of the United States, made it clear that Life, Liberty, and Property were God-given rights and that governments were to function to protect Life from others who would take it. Protect liberty from governments who would take it. Protect property from those who would steal the fruit of your labor. The same can go the same way with Inheritance/Estate taxes and Income taxes. Only sales tax would bypass the fruit of one’s labor. Does this or does this not sound like theft according to Locke?

What of the “common good”? Who else used that phrase? Mr. communist himself: Karl Marx?

Of course this is majorly over-simplifying things. It may even missing some pieces of the picture, but it certainly is one way to look at it.

What about your car? You worked for this brand new car for the last two years. You’ve paid cash for it. Got the paper to prove it. Now what happens if you don’t register it, insure it, and license it? It will be taken away if you’re caught driving it, and so will you. Now, there are obviously good reasons for insurance. But… if one is really FREE, then wouldn’t that decision to keep something he owns, regardless as to whether or not he or she registers it and gets little stickers that have an expiration date on every year? Personally I have no problem with many of the things I am suggesting. I am just trying to put forth a different idea that may fly in the face of reality as we think we know and view it.

Speaking of that… Is there a link between privacy and freedom? Do they connect in some way, either by being necessary for one or the other to occur, or do they have little to do with liberty in general?